NEW YORK — U.S. President Barack Obama announced America's military withdrawal from Iraq Friday — but faced criticism from members of his own party as he pledged to keep up to 50,000 troops there beyond a deadline next year for pulling out more than 90,000 "combat" soldiers.
Addressing several thousand U.S. Marines and their families at Camp Lejeune, N.C., Obama spoke of the withdrawal as part of a three-point plan that also included committing the United States to continuing to help Iraq mature politically, and to ramping up America's engagement across the region.
"Let me say this as plainly as I can," he said. "By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end."
But several leading Democrats were dismayed at his announcement that between 35,000 and 50,000 of the 142,000 troops currently deployed in the country will remain after the "combat-withdrawal" deadline.
Referring to them as a "transition" force, Obama said they will be tasked primarily with helping to train and equip Iraqi forces, and with protecting personnel involved in reconstruction projects. But they will also be on hand to back up or even lead counterterrorism operations.
To many on the left, Obama appeared to have betrayed what they believed had been a promise during the presidential campaign to almost instantly end U.S. military involvement in Iraq.
This was despite Obama's pledge that all U.S. troops will have been withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2011.
Before the speech, Nancy Pelosi, speaker in the House of Representatives, said she could not understand the "justification" for so many troops to stay on. Harry Reid, the Democratic Senate leader, said it was "a little higher number" than he had anticipated. Senator Charles Schumer of New York said 50,000 "is more than I would have thought."
Obama's move comes on the heels of several other decisions he's made as president that have disappointed the left — yet mildly surprised the right.
In step with this, among supporters of the withdrawal plan was Obama's presidential campaign rival, Senator John McCain of Arizona, who had accused Obama of naivete over Iraq as they battled ahead of the November poll.
"Overall, it is a reasonable plan and one that can work and I support it," McCain said.
Support from the right gives Obama a degree of political cover as he moves ahead with the plan, whereas giving in to demands for a more rapid withdrawal would have given Republicans a clear opportunity to attack him, should the security situation in Iraq worsen dramatically.
Still, Obama's plan contrasts with the long-term vision the Bush administration had laid out for troop presence in Iraq. It foresaw continued deployment similar to the way U.S. troops remain in Germany or South Korea.
Obama said it was time for the responsibility for Iraq to be transferred fully to the Iraqi people.
"America's men and women in uniform have fought block by block, province by province, year after year, to give the Iraqis this chance to choose a better future," Obama said. "Now, we must ask the Iraqi people to seize it."
Some critics of the invasion had charged the Bush administration sought to control Iraq's oil resources — whereas Obama appeared to make a point that the United States seeks only that Iraq will become a democratic ally.
"The United States pursues no claim on your territory," Obama said in a part of the speech he said was aimed directly at the Iraqi people.
"We respect your sovereignty and the tremendous sacrifices you have made for your country."
The timetable for the "combat" withdrawal is two months longer than the 16-month schedule Obama proposed during his campaign for the U.S. presidency.
He said the change reflected the extra time necessary to "preserve the gains we've made."
"Let there be no doubt: Iraq is not yet secure, and there will be difficult days ahead," Obama said. "Violence will continue to be a part of life in Iraq."
The comment about "gains" appeared to be a veiled acknowledgment that the "surge" in troop strength ordered by President George W. Bush to respond to peaks in violence in 2006 and 2007 had worked — even though he had opposed the measure.
Obama spoke of the strains imposed by declining oil revenues for the oil-rich state, as the deepening world recession bites into what was once Iraq's main hope for recovering from the war and advancing towards prosperity.
He also made an oblique reference to America's position that Iraqi neighbour Iran — a Muslim Shiite theocracy — continues to promote violence in Iraq through support for radical elements of Iraq's Shiite population.
"Not all of Iraq's neighbours are contributing to its security," Obama said. "Some are working at times to undermine it."
The withdrawal announcement marks a historical turning point in the unpopular war, which came to define the Bush presidency.
As a member of the Illinois Senate at the time of the 2003 invasion, Obama had opposed the action, which Bush launched against the backdrop of intelligence reports claiming Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction in defiance of international treaties.
While toppling Saddam was completed relatively quickly, casualties mounted as an insurgency inflated by al-Qaida operatives took a massive toll in U.S. blood and treasure.
More than 4,250 U.S. soldiers have been killed, while the invasion came to severely damage America's standing in the world.
The bulk of the withdrawal will not take place until after scheduled December elections in Iraq, Obama's plan foresees. Obama has also reportedly reassured leading members of Congress that the timetable would be "revisited" in accordance with any changing security situation.
Leading military commanders — including Gen. David Petraeus, the Middle East commander, and Gen. Ray Odierno, the Iraq commander — are reportedly "comfortable" with the plan.
http://www.theprovince.com/news/story.html?id=1335611 
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